The Discrimination of Geographical Origin of Lotus Root from Major Producing Areas of China Based on Multi-Elemental Analysis Combined with Multivariate Data Analysis

Lotus root is a popular traditional Chinese food of great economic and nutritional significance, which has different qualities, characteristics, and commercial value from various regions due to the climate and growing environment. Therefore, it is essential and urgent to establish an accurate and effective method to trace the geographical origins of lotus roots. This study combined mineral element analysis and multivariate statistical analysis to discriminate the origins of 147 lotus root samples from different production regions of China. The concentrations of 15 elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. In addition, chemometric techniques, including ANOVA, principal component analysis and stepwise linear discriminant analysis were utilized to identify the geographical origin of lotus roots. The results showed that the levels of the 15 elements were significantly different by ANOVA. The study indicates that stepwise linear discriminant analysis yielded an average discrimination rate of 99.3%.